Seedings for the Hopman Cup mixed teams tournament which starts here on Friday have been rendered meaningless by the late injury withdrawal of Australian Open champion Marat Safin, organisers say.
Safin, the world number 12 who was due to pair with Svetlana Kuznetsova to form the top-seeded Russian team for the eight-nation event, was forced to withdraw with tendinitis in his right knee.
But tournament director Paul McNamee said Safins omission would not change the rankings, despite his replacement by the little-known Teimuraz Gabashvili, whose main claim to fame is a win over 24th-ranked American James Blake in Florida at the start of the year.
”Its not Marat Safin obviously but Svetlana Kuznetsova is a great player and she knows him very well so I’m sure there will be a good team spirit there,” McNamee said.
”To be honest I think the seedings now are not highly relevant. I think any of the eight teams will be able to win the tournament. I would say it’s a wide-open field.”
McNamee said the tournament referee had determined that seedings for the event would not change, as the schedule of play had already been released.
Russia will remain the top seeds with Argentina’s Gaston Gaudio and Gisela Dulko seeded two, Australia at three and the United States at four.
Slovakia, the reigning champions who won the tournament for the first time last year with a 3-0 whitewash of Argentina in the final, are not competing this year.
Instead teams from Germany, Sweden, Serbia and Montenegro and either China or The Netherlands will make up the remainder of the field, with the latter two nations playing off in the opening qualifying tie on Friday.
The tournament proper kicks off on Saturday with Australians Wayne Arthurs and Samantha Stosur pitted against the German team of Nicolas Kiefer and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
The eight teams will be placed into two groups of four for the event, with the winners of each group meeting in the final on January 6.
Group A is made up of Russia, the United States, Sweden and Serbia and Montenegro with Argentina, Australia, Germany and either China or The Netherlands comprising Group B.
The tournament, an International Tennis Federation-sanctioned event, sees players from each team competing in singles rubbers before pairing for mixed doubles.
McNamee conceded Safin’s absence was a blow to the event but maintained the field was still strong.
”We’ve got seven players ranked in the top 30 which is really the sign of a very good field,” he said.
”I think any team could win it. For example the two 18-year-olds from Serbia have both got tremendous futures.”
Serbia and Montenegro, who are making their debut in the event, are represented by Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic.
Djokovic, who has a current world ranking of 83, has been tipped by former United States champion John McEnroe as a rising star capable of breaking into the top 10 before the end of 2006.
The United States, who have won the tournament three times, are represented by world number 30 Taylor Dent and doubles specialist Lisa Raymond. – Sapa-AFP